Firm fined over fish kill on local river

Draperstown firm J & A Renewables Limited has been fined £1,600 and ordered to pay compensation of £1,845 for causing a fish kill in the Altagoan River and for operating an anaerobic digestion plant without a valid Waste Management Authorisation licence.

The fine was imposed during a hearing at Magherafelt Magistrates Court on Monday, February 5.

According to DAERA, a number of brown trout were killed on the waterway - a tributary of the Moyola River - after slurry was discharged into the river from an anaerobic digester site on November 11, 2016.

A subsequent search of departmental records confirmed that there was no authorisation or application for an Anaerobic Digestion Plant to operate at the site on the Gortnaskea Road, Draperstown.

J & A Renewables Ltd was charged with the offence of making a polluting discharge to a waterway and fined £750, and with the offence of depositing controlled waste, or knowingly permitting controlled waste to be deposited in or on any land without there being in force a waste management licence authorising said deposit, and fined £850.